Helping individuals integrate 21st century science with ancient wisdom to make their lives and the lives of those in their relationship networks safer, more functional, healthier, happier and more fulfilled.

Subscribe to this blog

Follow Lives 1st by Email

Search This Blog

The Wisdom of the First Day of Creation

When elohiym began changing
things that existed to make the Heavens and the Earth the Earth did not exists,
darkness was over the surface of deep waters and the presence of elohiym hovered
over the surface of the waters.

In
English translations of Jewish and Christian Scriptures elohiym has been translated God,
god, gods, goddess, goddesses, angels, rulers, and judges.1 But,
a study of the choices translators make often reveals the influences of their
religious beliefs on the decisions of which English words to choose as translations
of Hebrew and Greek words. Our goal is to let the context in which words appear
reveal their meanings – contextual
definitions.

In
this context, elohiym is an unnamed entity that will create the
Heavens and the Earth. This makes elohiym
a supernatural entity, but we know nothing else about It before the moment It
begins creating. We call elohiym an “It” because the English pronouns
“he” or “she” do not accurately reflect what we will learn about elohiym.

The
Hebrew word translated "create"
means "to create by changing the
shape or form of things that exists." It does not mean “to create out of nothing.” This is the
first thing we learn about elohiym --
It changes things that exist to create
new things.

In
the context of the first two verses we discover that four things existed before
elohiym began creating:

1. elohiym

2. darkness

3. deep
waters

4. a
space above the surface of the deep waters

Below is a snapshot of the things that existed before elohiym changed anything. Keep in
mind that the things that exist were immersed in absolute darkness. Which thing
will elohiym choose to change first?

Genesis 1:3

And elohiym said: “/OR exist!” And /OR existed.

The
next thing we learn about elohiym is that It speaks.
This teaches us that speech is an important part of the creation process. What
does “/OR” mean? It is the
transliteration of this Hebrew word.

The basic meanings of “/OR” are “brightness” from
a body (sun, lightning, fire) that is
translated “light;” “live” (metaphorically “life”).2Since the sun, lightning and fire do not exists, the body from which this brightness originated is elohiym. Below is our translation.

And elohiym said: “Brightness
of life exists!”

And “brightness of
life” existed.

This gives us a new insight on the meaning of
“darkness.” It is a state without “the brightness of life” – a dark lifeless state.

Genesis 1:4a

And elohiym saw the “brightness of life,

that it was TOV.

After the creation of “the brightness of life” elohiym
observed it and measured it by a standard – and
it measured TOV.

TOV is traditionally translated “good,” but “good” is one
of those English words with a wide range of meanings -- morally excellent; virtuous; righteous; well-behaved; fertile.3
I was
visiting with an Israeli professor who taught Hebrew at a university and asked
her about the meaning of TOV. She provided a number of valuable insights:

“TOV is something that is seen; it is
something that is visible and concrete, not intangible abstractions. TOV
is “beautiful and pleasantto elohiym’s eyes.”

This reveals something new about elohiym – elohiym examines the results of Its actions and measures what it sees
with the TOV Standard.

Genesis 1:4b

And elohiym distinguished between the brightness of life and
between the darkness.

Now
we learn that elohiym makes
distinctions between things that exist. This is the foundational principle of knowledge. By making distinctions elohiym introduces knowledge into the creation account.

It
is important to recognize that the creation of “the brightness of life” did not end “darkness.” They both will continue to exist as parts of the
creation.

It was not elohiym’s intention
that there should be perpetual life and no lifelessness at all, but that life and
lifelessness should operate consecutively for given periods and in an
unchanging order.4

Genesis 1:5

And elohiym named the brightness of life “Day,” and darkness
It named “Night.”

And it was evening and it was morning, Day One.

According
to the conception current in the ancient East, the name of a thing was to be
identified with its essential nature and existence; hence to name a thing meant
to bring it into being.[3]
“Day” and “night” are the first memes
in story. The brightness of life and darkness exist in the objective reality of
the story without names. “Naming”
bestows meanings upon the things that exists and reveals the functions for
which they were created to fulfill:

1. Night is to
function as evening.

2. Day is to function
as morning.

3. Each cycle of
Night and Day in a sequence of seven cycles that will later be named “Week,” has the same name as the morning – Day One, Day Two, Day Three, etc.

This
introduces time into the creation and begins a perpetual cycle of lifelessness
and the brightness of life. Sunset and sunrise are perpetual reminders of the events
that took place on the First Day of Creation.

Review

First,
let’s review what the context of the First Day revealed about elohiym.

1. It exists in the space above the surface
of the deep waters.

2. It exists with darkness and deep waters.

3. It creates by changing things that exist.

4. It speaks.

5. It changed
darkness by creating “the brightness of life.”

6. It makes distinctions
between things that exist by observing them.

7. It measures the
result of Its actions by a standard -- the
TOV Standard.

7. It names things
and bestows functions upon things that it observes.

Second, let’s review what we discovered about
the contextual meaning of TOV:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A
rabbi and a pastor began a journey over 25 years ago. They studied their
Scriptures, researched their religions and examined their belief systems. The rabbi
is Jeffrey Leynor and Jim Myers is the pastor. They could
have never dreamed of what they would discover. They created the TOV Center
and the Lives 1st Initiative to share it with people. ● Humans are
born with a mysterious force that recognizes and moves them towards fairness, kindness, loyalty,
and caring – and away from cheating, cruelty, betrayal and indifference.
This can be seen in infants long before they are able to speak. ● Human brains create realities through which individuals
view the world, give meanings to what they see and create societies and institutions that reflect their realities. The human brain is the most complex known
object in the universe. It connects electrochemical impulses of sensory organs
to memories stored in the brain to create realities. ● When realities are in synch with the things the
mysteriou…

Watch
discussions between Rabbi Jeffrey Leynor
and Jim Myers about the ancient
wisdom principles and values embedded in the Hebrew texts of the first creation
account in Genesis. Genesis 1 Part 1 consists of eight very short videos that cover
the first four days of creation. They have been posted on Facebook, but you do
not have to be a Facebook member to watch them. When you click on the play
button of each video, a “Sign Up Screen” will pop up -- just click on the “Not Now” option and the video will
play. Go to the TOV Center Videos Page
to find links to the eight short videos online – CLICK HERE.

The
cover of the September/October 2018 issue of MIT Technology Review has – Technology
is threatening our democracy. How do we save it? and The “neuropolitics” consultants who hack voter’s brains. If you
have been in any of our TOV Center discussions over the past few years, this isn’t
“breaking news.” We have been talking about the pressing need for Americans to develop
skills required to make clear distinctions between “free speech” and “weaponized
memes.” The
authors of the articles in this issue of MIT
Technology Review provide some very good information about how to make
those distinctions and develop the skills to protect yourself and your loved
ones. Below are a few quotes: The problem is
that when we encounter opposing views in the age and context of social media, it’s
not like reading them in a newspaper while sitting alone. It’s like hearing
them from the opposing team while sitting with our fellow fans in a football stadium.
Online, we’re connected with our communities, and…